Crews work on replacing underground sewer, water, and sanitary sewers as part of an upgrade on South Main Street in Oshkosh last summer.

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A central garage renovation, miles of bad streets and a credit ratings agency walk into the city manger's office ... it sounds like the start to a joke, but all three have forced Oshkosh officials to consider significantly scaling back infrastructure spending next year.

The $72 million capital program City Manager Mark Rohloff proposed in 2012 has been slashed this year to $38.7 million, though it's not for a lack of projects. Instead, the city's general obligation debt load, $137.9 at the beginning of 2012, has reached 73.3 percent of its borrowing capacity of $188.1 million, reaching a ...